thrifted outfits – Page 2 – This is my hobby.

A Thrifted Thanksgiving Table

I was thrilled to host Thanksgiving this year, not only because I love spending time with my family, but also because it gave me an excuse to create a holiday themed tablescape.

In recent years I’ve gotten more and more into tablescapes.

It’s another outlet for creativity, and I like pulling things from around my house to place down the middle of my dining table.

I’ve pulled framed photos, shells, and collected trinkets for my tables when hosting friends and family.

Lately, I’ve been feeling like almost anything goes for a tablescape.

You want bows? Butterflies? Bird houses? Tie and stick them onto candle holders or table runners and make it a thing!

(My husband was sure to tell me that placing miniature chairs down the middle is a little insane — I just love a miniature piece of furniture, okay?!)

This holiday, I’ve had a lot of fun thrifting specifically for my tablescapes.

Here, I’m sharing the details on where I sourced all the items for my Thanksgiving table.

Goblets – Goodwill West Palm Beach
Glasses – Home Goods (I store these separately / away from our daily use cabinets so nobody can break them, and only bring them out for guests)
Flatware – Passed down from my mother-in-law
Crystal candle holders – wedding gifts
Pink taper candles – Goodwill West Palm Beach
Beaded/wooden candle holder – Nearly New Thrift Shop West Palm Beach

Napkin rings – thrifted and gifted from a friend
Fall wreath – Goodwill West Palm Beach
Bronze candle holders – passed down from my mom
Dark blue dessert plates – Goodwill West Palm Beach
White & blue dessert plates – thrifted & gifted from my mother-in-law

Floral urn – Nearly New Shop West Palm Beach
Block print napkins – Etsy
White vessel thingy I used as a candle holder – thrifted & gifted from my mom
Glass cake stand I used as a candle holder – found at a garage sale years ago

Baby girl made this sweet centerpiece at school!
Teacup I used as a candle holder – thrifted & gifted from my mom
Dinner plates – fiestaware; I chose dark blue plates for our family’s everyday use because the color hides scratches and they look nicer longer!

It felt like a blessing to be able to make my table beautiful for friends and family to gather around — I hope your Thanksgiving was fab, too!

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Last week’s thrifted ‘fits & highlights:

Easy breezy dress from Goodwill West Palm Beach

GAP shirt dress, linen pants, Target sandals from Goodwill West Palm Beach

I left this at Goodwill and kinda regret it!!!

Top from Goodwill West Palm Beach, Madewell jeans from Goodwill Boutique in Boca Raton

Cutie frog earrings from A Timeless Treasure West Palm Beach

Shells and rocks from Goodwill West Palm Beach styled in one of my plant pots

Still screaming over this bag found at Goodwill West Palm Beach — the red and the bamboo handles!

Button up from my Denver Goodwill haul, MANGO bag from Goodwill West Palm Beach

I styled an area in my bedroom with shells, a basket, and design books from Goodwill West Palm Beach

This basket from Goodwill West Palm Beach is solving a clutter problem on my desk!

Christmas Tree Weekend

The weekend before Thanksgiving is “Christmas Tree Weekend” in our house.

Since our daughter was born, it has been magical to reinvigorate holiday traditions — naturally, the teenage boys are less interested these days.

We only truly began defining the elements of Christmas Tree Weekend a few years ago, really.

There aren’t many tree lots open this early, but we found one in Boynton Beach. So, the tradition is that we pile into the car and hit shuffle on our Christmas playlist for the first time.

It’s the official start of a nonstop loop of Christmas music from now ’til the new year.

Picking out the tree is always a battle between Vince and me. I want a smaller, more manageable tree, he wants a sky scraper. I think we met in the middle this year.

We take a family photo and Vince always requests the guys save a slice of tree trunk to turn into an ornament — he uses a wood burner to make them every year.

Elaine was 8 months old for her first Christmas, and picked out an ornament at the tree lot. So, we always have her pick out an ornament! These beautiful beaded ornaments support makers in a Guatemalan village.

After we lug the tree in, the Christmas music continues, we don our matching jammies, and start decorating.

As you know, I love to decorate my home, but for the holidays I don’t do much. The tree is the main event.

Elaine is three, and it’s the first time she’s truly aware of tree decorating, which made this extra special.

She was so thoughtful about each ornament she placed (and screamed for us to look each time 🤪).

Elaine loved seeing the ornaments her brothers made at her age, and I imagine she’ll love it even more as she gets older.

We added another layer to the tradition this weekend: we took a break from decorating to order Chinese food and eat it while watching a Christmas movie.

Elaine has to have ranch, even with Chinese food. 😆

Just missing the middle child this year – he’ll join for upcoming traditions!

Elaine comparing her hand print to her dad’s when he was her exact age.

I love that we can add layers to our traditions — they can evolve while staying the same. This is truly the best time of year.

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Recent Thrift Haul Reels:

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits round up:

Draper James top thrifted from Goodwill during my Denver trip, J.Crew slacks thrifted and gifted from a friend ✨

Velvet sunnies thrifted from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Mom’s Cynthia Rowley dress and sandals from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Vintage top found at Goodwill in Denver, GAP jeans from Goodwill West Palm Beach

J.Crew cardigan set found at my thrift brunch party!

Items I was sad to leave at Goodwill:

I don’t have any more space for lamps, but it was painful to leave this one behind! I have the perfect white shade for it too. I hope it goes to a good home!

You know I *love* collecting baskets but this picnic basket was too big – no place for it!

The Brunch of My Dreams

I decided to switch up my holiday cocktail party/girly girl hang this season and throw a different kind of party.

Of course, I did not sacrifice the girly girlness (NEVER).

I wanted to host an event that served multiple purposes:

Foster connection with fabulous women

Honor my love of thrifting/buying secondhand

Help me clean out my closet (Things are severely out of hand — you see my thrift hauls! Gotta make way for more. 😏)

Offer food and drinks aplenty (obvi)

I decided to throw a ~Sip ~Shop ~Swap Brunch — a serial thrifter’s closet clean out.

Over a series of weeks, in preparation for this extravaganza, I went through my drawers and racks and created a massive pile on the floor of my closet.

The pile was full of pieces that I still love, but don’t need to hold onto any longer.

Pieces that I wanted to go to a good home and get more quality use.

In my profession, I wear a lot of dresses to events and sometimes when I see photographs from those events, I feel like a major outfit repeater.

Several of my friends feel the same way, so I thought, why not bring all our outfits together and swap? We each get to leave with new (old) things.

Or, we might find something we’d like to gift to a loved one over the holidays (gifting secondhand is cool, let’s make it a thing!!).

Baby girl was truly in her element at this party! She loved pulling pieces and bringing them to the ladies to try on.

The whole idea was to offer a fun way to shop for free and sustainably while also hanging out with my favorite people.

In preparation for the party, I activated my network to source portable clothing racks, extra tables, and hangers. The girlies came through.

I picked up bags of clothes from friends in advance, and two sweet ladies helped me set up the whole first floor of my house like a boutique.

The party had This is My Hobby vibes from top to bottom: The disposable wine glasses, wine charms, silverware caddy, serving platters, decorative fall napkins, party garland, and accessory display trays were all sourced from Goodwill.

I found a small storage piece in the service entrance of my friend’s condo building that was being thrown out; it displayed shoes, hats, belts, bags, and scarves perfectly.

I met this cutie on the airplane on my way home from Denver. She recently moved to the area and left the party with bags full — a new Florida wardrobe!

This girlie found the perfect holiday dress!

We don’t know where she’s wearing this, but it was made for her — stunning!

My mom flew in just in time for the party and racked up on cute finds

Didn’t snag all the ladies for this, but — look at these gorgeous friends! ❤️

The event came together better than I could have dreamed. I loved watching my friends connect — many meeting for the first time — and fill shopping bags with gorgeous finds.

*I’ll share an event recap reel on my instagram later this week!*

This was the best kick-off to the holiday season. I’m thinking I should make this an annual thing.

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits round-up:

Bag sourced from Goodwill, West Palm Beach

Sam Edelman shoes sourced from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Trina Turk dress sourced from Goodwill West Palm Beach

These are the pumps I found during my Goodwill excursion in Denver!

Baby girl’s ~ interesting~ outfit includes a Ruffle Butts swim top sourced from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Baby picked this dress out herself from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Express shirt sourced from Goodwill West Palm Beach, skirt secondhand/passed down from a friend

Cole Haan pumps sourced from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Comfy, cotton guauze button up sourced from Goodwill, West Palm Beach

My faves lately – huaraches sourced from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Baby girl couldn’t keep her hands off the merch during party set up

*Bonus:* This sweet girlie shared pics of her party haul — how gorge?!

I sourced this Reformation dress from Goodwill several years ago. It’s a classic cut that will never go out of style – doesn’t she look gorgeous in this?!

LOVE how she styled this dress – perfect for the holidays!

What’s in a Portrait

I grew up with framed portraits of my sister and me hanging in the upstairs hallway of my childhood home.

They were in a spot I couldn’t avoid seeing every time I walked from my bedroom to the bathroom.

I hated the way I looked in my portrait. She didn’t look like me at all and, in fact, looked homely compared to my sister’s portrait, which was gorgeous.

Naturally, this would be the case, right? One sister jealous of the other sister’s portrait — a tale as old as time.

But I ain’t lying. Mine looked like a boy to my 12-year-old eye.

Also — my ears were not that big. So rude.

My mom eventually gave me the portrait when she sold her home and I’ve tucked it away in various spots in the couple of houses I’ve lived in with my family.

I decided recently to hang it on the wall again, right in the entryway of my home.

I still don’t think that little girl looks like me (or how I used to), but now when I look at it, I think about my childhood, my sister, and my mom’s love for her kids.

As a mom now too, I totally get wanting portraits of your kids — it feels elegant and more meaningful than a photo in some ways.

I also understand wanting to capture your children at a moment in time so you can cherish it forever. This portrait is now a reminder of that.

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits round-up:

>> WATCH Video Thrift Haul here! <<

Dress – Lands End, Source: Goodwill West Palm Beach; I think it needs a belt, noting this for the next time I wear it!

Vintage blown glass candy earrings from The West Palm Beach Antiques Festival

Love that they are two different shapes.

Shoes – J. Mchlaughlin (brand new!), Source: Goodwill West Palm Beach

Baby girl’s Beauty and the Beast needlepoint onesie (so sweet!) thrifted and gifted from a friend.

Kimono and belt from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Shirt – LOFT, Source: Goodwill West Palm Beach

Dress – Old Navy, Source: Goodwill West Palm Beach,
Leather & Silver Belt Source: Community Thrift Store West Palm Beach

Italian leather sandals, Source: Goodwill West Palm Beach

Variegation Consternation

Like most people, I love natural light. It’s important for my home to have lots of windows and the blinds raised at all times of day.

I don’t like having indoor lights on when the sun is out.

I’m always going behind my housemates and flipping the lights off.

We have lots of plants in our house that benefit from all the windows and natural light, but as my husband propagates and collects more, he’s needing to hang and shelve them in darker areas; we’re running out of prime window real estate.

His solution is to install grow lights — special lighting that work just like the sun for plants.

The hanging grow light in our primary bedroom.

I know that my ideal design aesthetic can never be achieved whilst sharing space with an adult man, two teenage boys and a toddler. I know this.

But, the introduction of the grow lights was simply something I could not have foretold.

To me, they’re giving: science experiment. Nail tech lighting. Clinical.

I want soft sunlight that casts a gentle shadow as the day progresses.

A vintage lamp found at The Cozy Cottage in Lake Worth Beach transformed into a grow light set up.

The light these grow lights cast are literally disturbing to my eye. Am I being dramatic?

The lights are making a big difference for the plants they’re nourishing. One pothos in particular is growing orangey looking leaves now — I’m told this is called variegation.

This is extremely exciting for my husband, prompting him to want to install more grow lights throughout the house.

Much to my consternation.

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:

Baby girl and I scored clothes, stationery, and several items for my thrifted Christmas baskets at Goodwill last week:

>> Watch Video Thrift Haul HERE! <<

Dress – Max Studio, Source: Goodwill West Palm Beach

Earrings from Community Thrift Store West Palm Beach

Dress – O.p.t., Source: Goodwill West Palm Beach

Dress – Universal Thread , Source: Goodwill West Palm Beach

Top – Milk Designs (handmade by local designer – formerly a vintage tablecloth!), Source: The Rust Market Lake Park

Rapunzel costume found at Goodwill West Palm Beach

Little Mermaid costume found at Goodwill West Palm Beach, Ruby slippers too!

Top – Max Studio London, Source: Goodwill West Palm Beach, Earrings Source: The Church Mouse Palm Beach

Thrifting into the Holidays

It’s hard to believe the holidays are nearly upon us. After October it’s basically Christmas, so buckle up, folks.

One of the challenging things about being a mama is that holiday gifting for the kids, family friends and extended fam usually falls on your shoulders.

Baby girl and I stopped by A Timeless Treasure in Northwood to start our holiday gift hunting. This store has treasures in every nook and cranny and also sets up a booth at the Lake Park Rust Market!

My husband is in charge of arranging with Santa the big gift each kid will get, but there’s still stockings to fill and smaller presents to find — all while attempting to maintain some semblance of a budget and keep the spending even among all kiddos.

There’s also sharing gift ideas with extended family — you have to keep straight what you’re getting the kids vs. what you recommend the family gets for them.

*Parents, take note:* Last year, my genius idea was creating a Pinterest board for each kid and sending out links! It worked great.

We scored several perfect, vintage gifts at this shop! And, naturally, a few things for ourselves as well. 😏

Lucky for this mama, I love gifting and shopping, so sourcing holiday gifts is mostly fun.

It’s going to be even more fun this year because I was inspired by an influencer I follow, Margo Roth, to gift thrifted baskets.

The Goodwill by my house always has a variety of cute baskets to choose from, so I’m collecting them and filling them with thrifted items that remind me of the people in my life.

Baby girl’s favorite thing about the shop.

I can’t emphasize how primo (often brand new) the items I find in the shops are. I’ve already started collecting and will eventually share the details on each basket I make.

Gifting this way gives me an excuse to be in the shops even more than usual (twist my arm), and also allows me to share about my obsession with thrifting and its benefits with my people.

It’s been so much fun searching for things that are personalized — can’t wait to share what I’ve found with you soon!

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits & treasures round-up:

>> VIDEO THRIFT HAUL HERE <<

Sterling silver shell necklace from Jupiter Medical Thrift

Shorts and shoes from Goodwill West Palm Beach

BCBG heels – BRAND NEW, $9.99! – found at Goodwill West Palm Beach. Perfect for holiday outfits.

Goodies found at A Timeless Treasure in Northwood.

Can’t wait to layer this shell necklace with others.

Not thrifted, but a pretty poolside moment this weekend – love the light and how beautiful this thriving Crown of Thorns is!

Thrifting in Denver

I stayed in Denver for two nights last week for work and, though my schedule was packed, you know I had to squeeze in some thrifting time.

Maybe my new thing is visiting a Goodwill in every city I visit?

Thrifted conference attire – I got this jacket at the Rust Market in Lake Park, Brand – Love Sam

I was staying downtown, so I typed in Google maps “Thrift Store Near Me,” and a Goodwill popped up 2 miles away.

Conference sessions didn’t end til 6:30 pm but that wasn’t a problem – this Goodwill stayed open til 9!

I pulled on my sneakers and walked over to the largest and most organized Goodwill I’ve ever been in (the walk was also a great way to see the city at night — sorry, mom).

Threw on this sweater for my walk – The Drop, Source: thrifted and gifted from a friend.

First of all, look at this place.

All the clothes were organized by type, color, and size (!!!!) and the shoes had sticker sizes on each pair.

There were two levels and the first floor had a little bookstore section at the back!

Shook.

I only had about an hour to shop, but by now you know that ain’t a problem for me.

I’m like that classic story of The Princess and the Pea when it comes to sniffing out a cute top — I can just feel it in the piles of stuff.

I spent $55 and came away with a pretty good haul:

Almost left the picture frame but decided I could safely transport it in my backpack.

I only brought a backpack and a small carry on, so I had to be judicious in my selections.

Here are items I was sad to leave behind:

I wanted this so badly for baby girl! Imagine collecting thrifted minis for this.

Love a tiny chair! So sad to leave this!! There was also a pine chest I didn’t snag a photo of that would be perfect as a coffee table – they were selling it for $29!

Several Denver natives told me the truly good thrifting is in Boulder.

I’ll be back, Colorado!

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:

Baby girl and I both wearing dresses thrifted from Goodwill West Palm Beach. Mine is Universal Threads.

Clearly was having a moment with this belt last week. 😜 Dress thrifted and gifted from a friend.

Ring from West Palm Beach Antiques Festival

Baby girl’s shorts and shoes from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Janie & Jack Swimsuit from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Basket my life, baby.

Living with a lot of people means you’re also living with clutter. It just builds up — even if you’re not a maximalist like me. 😉

My solution?

BASKETS

I might have a bit of a basket problem, tbh.

I’ve embraced that at this stage in my life, toys are part of the home aesthetic. I know that one day, I’ll look around and wish there were toys on the floor, so I accept it with my whole heart. Toy Basket Source: Stone Button Studio West Palm Beach, Mini Rattan Chair Source: SoFlo Finds Delray Beach

It started with my daughter’s toys. The two baskets I got for the living room quickly overflowed, though, which actually made things look more cluttered, imo (my solution for that further down).

Baby Girl’s Shoe Basket Source: Stone Button Studio West Palm Beach

This kid has a lot of toys but it isn’t entirely her mom and dad’s fault.

When you have a baby (especially one as cute as mine 😏) people start bringing toys every time they see you or visit, it just happens!

Anyway, back to baskets.

Magazine Holder Source: The Cozy Cottage Lake Worth Beach, Basket Source: Nearly New Thrift Shop West Palm Beach

I’m married to a recovering clutter bug.

You can track his movements throughout the house based on the trail of items left on counters and floors.

Until a few weeks ago his bedside table was…atrocious.

Upon it sat a mountain of the miscellaneous: remote controls, books, snacks, cups, glasses, etc. etc. etc.

My solution was this cute lil basket! Now, instead of me worrying about putting the items back constantly, they’re thrown in here so I don’t have to look at them!